Jefferson Establishes Radiation Oncology Center in Bucks County

Now residents of Bucks County, Burlington County and Northeast Philadelphia will have the medical advantages of Jefferson's prominent Bodine Center for Cancer Treatment without having to trek to Center City.

Five years in the planning, Jefferson has just opened a comprehensive radiation oncology facility in Bristol that is expected to serve over 200 patients in the area annually. The Jefferson-Lower Bucks Radiation Oncology Center features the state-of-the-art equipment available at the Bodine Center, as well as Jefferson staff physicians, a physicist, nurses and technicians.

The new 5,000 square foot Center, which is primarily an outpatient facility, is also part of the Jefferson Cancer Network. Resources include a dual energy linear accelerator and an infusion room, plus a complete range of on-site treatment planning and clinical research programs. Neelofur R. Ahmad, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College, is the clinical director.

"We are the only radiation oncology facility fully integrated with a university medical center in the Bucks County area," says Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, chairman of the department of radiation oncology at Jefferson. In particular, he continues, patients at the Lower Bucks Center will benefit from Jefferson's three-dimensional treatment planning, a unique capability which allows physicians to target radiation treatments more directly to tumors while reducing exposure to adjacent healthy tissue.

Since most patients receive radiation therapy five days per week over a period of three to six weeks, having a radiation oncology center nearby allows convenient access to "the considerable technical and professional expertise of Jefferson's Bodine Center," says Dr. Curran. "The Lower Bucks Center allows patients who may have had surgery at Jeff to continue receiving Jefferson quality outpatient oncology care at a location closer to home."

The Jefferson-Lower Bucks Radiation Oncology Center is located on the grounds of Lower Bucks Hospital. For more information about the Center or to schedule an appointment, call 215-785-9910 or 1-800-JEFF-NOW.